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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Greetings, dear readers! I am still in Hawaii for another day before I head home, and I can't believe I never thought to share the nail art design I created for my trip! The China Glaze Summer Reign Collection showed up at my door shortly before I left town, and a few of the shades were absolutely perfect for my tropical manicure. Check it out!

To create this look, I started off with a white creme so the China Glaze shades would really pop on my nails. I then used Summer Reign (ultra-violet), Sun-Set The Mood (hot coral), and Sultry Solstice (orange neon) to create a colourful gradient reminiscent of the sunset on my nails.

I had purchased a Hawaiian themed stamping plate for Hawaiian inspired images on my nails, but since I'm not naming any brands (today, anyway), I'm just going to go ahead and say the plate sucked and I couldn't get any of my black stamping polishes to pick up the full image no matter what combination of polish, scraper, or stamper I tried. I ended up digging through my limited polish stash and pulled out three different stamping plates and montaged several elements together to create my design. In the end, I used Ever After stamping polish in Black Magic with Bundle Monster stamping plates BM-508 and BM-510 and Born Pretty Store stamping plate BP-23. I used my extensive freehand skills (hahahaha) to add a little island silhouette to some of my nails before topping everything with top coat.

I'm really excited about this nail art design, and it was the perfect way to show off some of the new China Glaze Summer Reign shades! It has been a busy, but wonderful, trip, and while part of me is sad to be leaving the beautiful tropics behind, I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed at home and just having my regular day-to-day routine back. Since I do have the Summer Reign Collection waiting for me when I get home, let me know if you'd rather see swatches of each individual shade or more nail art!

The China Glaze Summer Reign Collection is now available for purchase at Ulta and Sally Beauty.

What do you think of this nail art design? Is it something you would wear? Do you want me to write a post about my trip? I'd love to hear from you!

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Greetings dear readers! I don't have a lot of time, but I did want to get a quick post up for you. I love eye shadow palettes, and I was eager to try out the Demeter Goddess Eyeshadow palette by Kiss New York Professional and share my thoughts with you. Let's jump in!

The Demeter version of the Goddess palette consists of 12 warm-toned shades ranging from pale peach to gold to green and a few other earthy shades thrown in the mix. The colours in this palette are gorgeous and some of my personal favorites when it comes to eyeshadow! With a price point of only $16, the price was just right for me to splurge just a little and not feel bad if this didn't work out for me. The question is: is this palette any good? Let's get a first look at the colours.

Since a few of these shades are close to m skin tone and I know a lot of you like to read my posts while mobile, I put in a little asterisk above each swatch. These swatches are done with my fingers and not a brush. My first impression: these are pretty nice overall! The lower left shade is a bit chalky, but that's something I've come to expect from more affordable lighter shades. These eyeshadows have pretty good colour payout, especially when you take the price into consideration. You can't exactly expect high-end quality with low prices, and I enjoyed playing with these shadows. Here are a few of the eye looks I created with this palette:

I wanted a quick and easy day look, and I opted to embrace my inner golden goddess for this look with both the light and darker golds. Both shadows applied well although the lighter gold is a little patchy with application. My camera really picked up the shimmer and exaggerated the patchiness for the photo above.

For my second look, I stuck with the coppers and browns for a fabulous earthy look. I also used the brown eyeshadow in the palette to line my eyes to keep the look subtle. I personally think I look ridiculous when I try to use the popular pinks and cranberries on my eyes, and this coppery version is more my style. I would wear this look every day if I didn't like to play with my makeup so much!

For my final look, I wanted to up the drama while still keeping a look I felt comfortable wearing during the day. I love pairing golds and olives together, and since the shades were in this palette, this look just begged to be created! I added some brown to add depth and lined my eyes with the olive eyeshadow. While this look is a little more dramatic than I personally prefer for an everyday look, I do love how this turned out! I definitely felt like an earth goddess while sporting this combination!

I am really glad I decided to try out this palette! The eyeshadows have pretty nice pigmentation and the colours are lovely! Some shades had a little fallout, but it was easy to clean up and won't keep me from grabbing for this palette again. These eyeshadows applied easily in general with the lighter shades having a little bit of patchiness, requiring a little extra attention for application. I'm definitely planning to play around with this palette more in the future! I love that the price is so affordable, and with my normal eye primer and setting spray routine, my eye makeup stayed in place and remained nicely pigmented all day long! I'm definitely going to be picking up more products from Kiss New York Professional in the future! There are three different Goddess palette options, a variety of single shades, and newer Hexa Eyeshadow palettes to choose from, so if the Demeter Goddess palette isn't quite your style, Kiss New York Profession has other options for you!

Have you tried any of the eyeshadows or eyeshadow palettes from Kiss New York Professional? What colours are your favorites? I'd love to hear from you!

Friday, May 26, 2017

Good morning, dear readers, and TGIF! To celebrate the end of the week and the upcoming weekend, I have the new Ellagee Polish shade to share with you for the June Polish Pickup. If you're not familiar with Polish Pickup, let me briefly fill you in! Each month, everyone is encouraged to submit theme suggestions to Polish Pickup here. The organizers choose their favorite suggestions from the submissions and present these online here for voting. Once the theme is selected, indie makers create their polish inspired by the theme. Then, the first weekend of every month, the Polish Pickup shop opens for just four days for customers to pre-order their desired polishes for the theme. Customers can purchase as many or as few shades as they want: there is no committing to polishes you may not want! It's a great way to enjoy themed polishes without breaking the bank for something you don't want, but I have to warn you, there are usually so many amazing shades to choose from that you may end up blowing your polish budget in no time! Now let's get to today's post!

The winning theme for the June Polish Pickup is "Under the Sea". Laura, the creative mastermind behind Ellagee Polish use the photo posted above as her inspiration for her gorgeous creation. Presenting: I Shall Call Him Squishy!

Described as a having a hot pink base with flakes and a blue flash, I Shall Call Him Squishy is a stunning interpretation of the inspiration photo and the perfect shade for summer! I am in love with this colour, and I definitely will be sporting it on my fingers and toes all summer long! The formula is thicker than the average mainstream polish, but it is on par with the thickness of many other indie brands and still incredibly easy to apply. I have it shown here with three thin coats plus top coat for opacity, but those that tend to paint with a heavier hand may find they only need a single coat to cover any visible nail line. This polish is simply divine, and I hope you love it as much as I do!

I Shall Call Him Squishy and other polishes created for June's Under the Sea themed Polish Pickup can be purchased from the Polish Pickup website located here. The shop will be live from Friday, June 2nd at 11am EST until June 5th midnight EST. Please note that the shop will ONLY be open during this time, so if you want any of the polishes from the June Polish Pickup, please mark the dates on a calendar so you can get those orders in! Also to note, all purchases are made as a pre-order. Please allow two to three weeks after the preorder has closed for polishes to be shipped to you. Choose as many or as few shades as you want!

List of makers participating in the June Polish Pickup:

Are you excited about the June Polish Pickup? Are you thinking of picking up I Shall Call Him Squishy? What sea creatures are you excited to see being brought to life as polish? I'd love to hear from you!

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Happy hump day, dear readers! I hope you've been having a wonderful week! This months feel like it has flown by so quickly, and it's almost hard to believe it will be June next week! A new month mean a new Polish of the Month will soon be available from Colors by Llarowe, and you're going to want this stunning shade! Be sure to mark this down on your calendar because you're going to want to grab your own bottle of Twinkle Toes, the June 2017 Polish of the Month!

Describes as a lilac purple linear holo with pink to purple shimmer, Twinkle Toes is a majestic polish that is the perfect purple for the summer. Not too dark and not too light, the holographic rainbow will dazzle and captivate you attention through the long summer days. The formula is thicker than the average mainstream polish, a feature often seen with indie polish brands, but I still found it to be ultra smooth and easy to apply to my nails. I used two coats for opacity and added top coat for extra shine.

Twinkle Toes will available from the Llarowe website when it reopens on June 1st for a limited time. You'll want to keep an eye on the Llarowe social media accounts, linked below, for the exact time of the launch. Please note Colors by Llarowe Polish of the Month shades are available as a preorder only for a very limited time, so you will need to order this upon the shop's reopening so you don't miss out.

What do you think of the Colors by Llarowe Polish of the Month? Will you be ordering one for yourself? Is there a colour you hope to see from CbL in a future collection or Polish of the Month? I'd love to hear from you!

Monday, May 22, 2017

Happy Monday, dear readers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and your week is off to a great start! I am currently in sunny Hawaii enjoying the beautiful Big Island while my husband is here for a conference. Poor me, right? I'm still blogging while here, and I'm keeping my eye out should something fun catch my attention to share with you when I return home. This is first and foremost a beauty blog, but I may write up a lifestyle post about our vacation here should you be interested. Just let me know! Now on to today's blog post!

Jenna of Lyn B Designs is going to be releasing two polishes of the month this Friday, and I have them to share with you today. Let's check them out!

I really enjoy a glitter crelly, and this one is beautiful! Lavender and lilac are lovely, but the aqua glass flecks really complete this polish and make the whole look special. As for the application, the formula is thicker than the average main stream polish brand, but it still applied easily for me with minimal effort. The glitters spread nicely over my nails with no clumping, but you do need to take care not to overwork the formula. It dries to a slight texture due to the glitters, but top coat smooths it out nicely. I have it shown here with three coats plus top coat.

Initially it seemed a little odd to me to release a Christmasy polish in late spring, but All the Whos in Whoville could be a fun glitter topper for patriotic manicures for the 4th of July. The clear base is on the thick side, and I found it works best by dabbing onto the nails rather than using brush strokes. I didn't have to dig for any glitters, and you may need to work a little to make sure the glitter shapes aren't getting stuck on each other as is typical for unusual shapes and sharper corners. Overall it applied without too much difficulty for me although some users may want to add a couple drops of thinner to make application a little easier. I dabbed on about a coat over China Glaze Rain Dance the Night Away.

The Lyn B Designs Polishes of the Month for June are releasing this Friday, May 26th at 7pm EST. In addition to these two shades, Lyn B Designs is releasing dud polishes; only 10 bottles of each dud shade will be available for purchase. Customers can use discount code MEMORIAL to save 50% off their entire order. Purchase three of more polishes and you get a free mystery Limited Edition shade with your order. This discount code is good though June 3rd. If you have your eye on these of other Lyn B Designs shades, now is a great time to pick some up and save some money!

What do you think of the upcoming Polishes of the Month? Are you more of a crelly fan or a glitter topper fan? I'd love to hear from you!

Friday, May 19, 2017

Happy Friday, dear readers! I hope you've had a great week and something fun planned for the weekend. I am about to head to the airport for a combination work trip/family vacation. We're going to be visiting the Big Island of Hawaii! To prepare for my trip, I made a quick trip to Kohl's this week to pick up a few last minute accessories to toss in my bag. It's been a while since I've gone a little blog giveaway, and this seems like as good a reason as any! I picked up a gift card for Kohl's for one lucky reader; the rafflecopter entry form will be at the end of the post, but until then, let's check out what I picked up!

My budget is really tight as I'm staring at hefty medical expenses, and that means no new clothes for me this summer season. I tend to stick with solid colours and classic styles so that's not really an issue for me; I actually like not needing to buy clothing and just pick up a few new accessories to add to my wardrobe each season. I love to pick up a new scarf and/or a chunky necklace, but I went a little more practical this trip and got things I actually needed.

I love the colours in this Relic wristlet, and I took advantage of the sale price plus by bonus 30% off coupon to pick up this baby. With hauling extra stuff for the littles for the vacation part of the trip, I am so thankful to now have a thinner wallet to save space in my carryon bag, and if I ever get the chance to get out on my own without kids, I can just use it as a wristlet. The center area is open to accommodate a cell phone, so add my driver's license, a card, and some cash and I am all set to go on a nice jaunt in peace!

Regardless of whether you're in Hawaii or just staying at home, sunglasses are essential for protecting your eyes! I seem to always have the worst luck with losing my sunglasses, and I actually needed to pick up a pair for myself. This pair by Apt.9has a cute locked loop pattern on the side, and the hidden neon purple inside screamed "Choose me!" as I was making my selection. They were also super affordable, a feature I definitely can appreciate since they may not make it back home with me knowing my luck with sunglasses!

It may seem strange to you that I am now in California after living in Arizona for several years and I really don't like flip flops. I keep seeing everyone wear them everywhere they go, especially when the days are warm, but I tend to avoid them. With my high arches, flip flops just don't offer the support I need so I rarely buy them. That said, I just had to have this pineapple-patterned pair by SO! I certainly won't be doing any hiking or exploring in these, but they're perfect for slipping on at the resort to head to the pool or nearby beachfront. They were marked down to only $3.99, so if when they fall apart by the end of the summer, I'll still feel like I got enough use out of them.

Notice a theme here? I generally don't wear yellow metals but these pineapples were so sticking adorable I couldn't say no. My 4 year old was actually the one that saw them first and said we had to get them, and what kind of mom would I be if I broke his poor little heart when he so desperately wanted his momma to have pineapples for her ears? I know, I know, that's certainly a stretch for a reason, but I will happily sport these with my pineapple flip flops and the pineapple shirt I packed.

Today is going to be a long day with a long drive to the airport, time spent in the airport, and then a super long flight squished like a sardine. A face mask after a travel day is always appreciated by your skin. I picked up the BioBelle #beautyscoop facial mask for some extra pampering either later today or tomorrow morning before I set out on some kind of adventure.

Other than the facial mask, everything I picked up at Kohl's was marked down, and with my additional 30% off discount, I ended up spending less than $30. I love that I have some fun pieces, including those that I actually needed, for such a great price!

I wanted to do something nice for you for being such great supporters of my blog, and I picked up a $25 gift card for one lucky reader! Hopefully you can pick up something nice for yourself for the summer! Please enter the giveaway in the rafflecopter widget below!

This conclude's today's post! Even though I'm out of town, I still will be posting while I'm away. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to actually take a vacation away from the blog just yet, but I'll keep you posted if I do end up taking a break.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Good morning, dear readers! I hope you've been having a wonderful so far! In my previous post, I shared the new Ever After Polish stamping polishes launching on the BRAND NEW website this Friday, and for today's blog post, I have another trio launching on the site for your viewing pleasure. I grew up listening to The Beatles as that was what my father always played in the car for road trips, and I am so excited to be sharing the Beatles Love, Part 1 Collection with you! I may burst from excitement if I don't show you these polishes *rightnow* so let's jump in and check them out!

Across The Universe

Three coat plus top coat

Across The Universe has an amazing formula! It applies smoothly and with minimal effort, and I had no issues with the flakes clumping or sticking up awkwardly on my nails. Occasionally a flake would be overhanging off a nail while applying this polish, but they are easy to gently push back up onto the nail or pull off, which ever you prefer. Some flake-filled polishes can be a bit too thick and tricky to work with, but this beauty practically applies itself!

Yellow Submarine

Two coats plus top coat

If Yellow Submarine won't convince you to give yellow nail polish a chance, I don't know if any yellow could. While I'm not a die hard yellow polish fan, I can appreciate the colour, and it says a lot that Yellow Submarine is my favorite of this trio. The formula is a touch thicker than Across The Universe but still oh-so-easy to work with to get a flawless look on your nails. This polish is amazingly beautiful, so if you've been thinking of maybe giving yellow a chance or if you're already a fan, you'll want to pick up this one!

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Three coats plus top coat

So much sparkled goodness and sadly these photos don't come close to doing this beauty justice! Densely packed with glitters, LITSWD applied nicely for me with three coats to achieve opacity. I can see a hint of bare nail in these photos, but it is so blingy on the nail I couldn't see any visible spots with the naked eye. You could easily apply this polish by soaking up some of the base with a cosmetic sponge before dabbing on the nail, but it's so easy to apply three coats and probably not worth the extra effort and supplies. If you prefer a slightly less blinged out look, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds can be applied with one coat for a dense glitter topper.

I am loving how Ever After has interpreted these iconic Beatles songs, and if this is a representation of what we can expect to see, I can't wait to see future Beatles Love polishes! Even though there are only three shades in the first part, I love the variety of finishes across this trio!

The Beatles Love, Part 1 Collection will be launching on the new Ever After website located here this Friday, May 19th at 8pm EST. While they will not be stocked, the new website will be opening for public viewing at 8am EST on Friday as well so you can check out the new site then prior to the launch in the evening. Until then, you can visit the old website located here and pick up Dragon Eggs, Mother of Dragons, and over pours of the Indie Shop Limited Edition shade from this past weekend.

Is there a particular shade from this trio that has caught your attention? What Beatles songs do you hope to see inspire shades from future parts? I'd love to hear from you!

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About Me

Greetings, and welcome to my little slice of the internet! I am a beauty blogger with a passion for nails, makeup, hair, and skincare. I love writing and sharing my thoughts with my readers, and I hope you are able to find my posts informative and helpful.